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Demystifying The Indie Film Journey
This is Truly Independent, a show that demystifies the indie film journey by documenting the process of releasing independent films in theaters. Each week, Garrett Batty and I, Daren Smith, will update you on our journey, bringing guests to share their insights into the process and answer your questions. In today's episode, we share the story of how the Carpenter came to be, why we chose to shoot it internationally, and we share some stories from the shoot. We also answer some listener questions like where do you meet producers and how do you get on Garrett's crew? This is Truly Independent episode 3.
Garrett:Welcome. Welcome, everybody. How are you? Hope you hopefully everybody is doing great. Daren, nice to see you.
Daren:Always good to see you. We we match today. We've got the the button ups, the long sleeves, the rolled up. Like, we're we're ready to work today.
Garrett:Yep. I think it's we are ready to work. And and it's a good day to work. There's a lot going on and a lot to do, and, it's fun fun to take a minute out of the week and catch up with you. Do you see any see anything good this week?
Garrett:I wanna make sure that that we don't just tell about our process, that we also get to enjoy watching good movies.
Daren:Yeah. Well, I I finally got to go see Furiosa in IMAX, last weekend. Oh my gosh. That guy, George Miller, knows how to craft a movie. My goodness.
Daren:It's just it's like a different thing than other movies that exist.
Garrett:He's got he's got his own style. That's right. For sure. Yeah.
Daren:So crazy.
Garrett:Was it crowded? I mean, you're we're 3 weeks into that release.
Daren:Yeah. It was it was pretty full, maybe half full. Like, the my row had 2 empty seats, and I was, like, in the good I always pick the good row. You know?
Garrett:Yeah. We all know
Daren:what the good row is. It's the one that's like the middle of the screen height wise, center of the I can't do the sides of the theaters. Like, I'm too much of a sound guy that I can't be on the right or the left. So, like, yeah, I can't do it. Gotta be center.
Daren:Yeah. I'm a good girl.
Garrett:I I'm right there with you, and that's where they put sometimes in the the luxury seats are right there. So nothing like sitting in a big luxury seat, the little bit of popcorn and enjoying something like that. I took my daughter and we went and saw If. Which was super fun. I didn't know it would be such a fun father daughter movie, but, my daughter's going to college next, you know, in the fall.
Garrett:And so I'm trying to spend some time with her and, even though the main character's a little bit younger, it was still pretty special to be there with my daughter, and we enjoyed that movie.
Daren:Yeah. John Krasinski, man. Another guy who knows how to tell a story and put a good movie together. I was really impressed. And the cinematography of If, Janus.
Daren:Right?
Garrett:Yeah. I was
Daren:shot that.
Garrett:Really pleased to see his name come up on that.
Daren:Like, wait. What? He's doing this movie? And then you watch it, and you're like, uh-huh. That's him.
Garrett:The music, and the music was honestly fantastic.
Daren:Chino. Right?
Garrett:Yeah. He
Daren:got the dream team for that. It was super good. Yeah. Impressed. So go see some movies if you haven't, this weekend, listener and viewer.
Daren:Like, we we we get the, the tax write off because it's research for us. But even if you don't go and see movies as much as possible, get ready because you're going to see movies this fall that we're producing and we're releasing, and there's our segue. How do you like that one? I love it. Segue.
Daren:Alright. So today, we are talking about kind of the history of the carpenter. We've alluded to this in previous episodes where we're in, like, year 9 of this, the story here. So why don't you kinda kick us off? You know, can hand it off to me when I joined into the story, but the first couple years really was you and this family.
Daren:And so, we wanted to walk people through how this came to be because I think it really helps inform why we're why we're choosing to do this independently.
Garrett:Sure. Yeah. And absolutely. And and hopefully, it'll be, you know, where this is a unique situation, maybe the takeaway is that no film comes together, like, one right after another as far as a pattern of practices, you know, films will come together in from a variety of different elements, this being one that was totally unexpected. Yeah.
Garrett:Years years ago, I had a I got a call out of the blue, from somebody that, from this, you know, young, like, a 20 year old film fan, and he said, I've seen some of your work, and I like what you do, and I'd love to work with you. I have an idea about a story. He says, I'm not a screenwriter, but I'd love for you to be able to write this. And he pitched this very basic idea, but it was very compelling, about a young boy, or a yeah, at the time it was a young boy, who was an apprentice to Jesus of Nazareth before Jesus' ministry. And and this is kind of like pre chosen, this is before, this surge of, faith based and and Christian content doing very well in the theaters.
Garrett:And so, it was, regardless of that, it was very interesting just story wise. And so he and I worked together for a few, years, I guess, putting together the script. And the idea was that they were they wanted to take this script and pitch it into Hollywood and make this big Hollywood movie. Fast forward, you know, 7 years or so, maybe 6 years. They said, hey.
Garrett:We'd like for you they called back and said, great script and they know I directed and they said we'd like for you to direct a sizzle, that we could take and pitch. And so this is in the height of COVID. We filmed a we safely filmed a sizzle, like a 6 minute. I took I took all of the scenes from the script that had some sort of compelling kind of these trailer moments, put them in a 3 page, 4 page, outline and we got together a crew and hired some stuntmen and filmed a sizzle for a week in Texas, on the set where they where they shoot, where they shot the first season of The Chosen. And so, you know, we went down, we looked at different different sets that we could film in, and did our best to really show what this movie would be.
Garrett:You know, when we talk about, hey, it's an MMA movie set in Nazareth, like A Rocky Meets Chosen. That's the, we wanted people to be able to really visualize that. So we shot the sizzle. They wanted to take the sizzle and, pitch it around and also raise money with it. About a year after that, they called back and said, hey.
Garrett:We'd love to actually have you produce and direct this movie. And, and they had their own source of funding. And, so at that point it was like, Okay, we're on, we're gonna make this movie. At that point Darren enters into the picture, I reached out and said, I've gotta I've gotta film this movie. I know you do good work.
Garrett:We're gonna go to South Africa. Do you wanna come?
Daren:Yeah. What a phone call. So Garrett calls me. I just wrapped on a a horror movie, horror thriller that we shot, like, 3 weeks of night shoots in Provo Canyon in February in Utah. It was like 3 degrees outside.
Daren:So Garrett calls up and says, hey. Hey. You've been doing a lot of producing lately. And I said, yeah. It's been awesome.
Daren:And we've known by that point, we'd known each other probably 9 or 10 years, but it never worked together, and it was a dream to be like, man. I mean, everyone in Utah wants to work with Garrett Batty, but to be a producing partner with Garrett Batty is something else. So Garrett calls and said, you've been doing a lot of producing? He said, yeah. And he goes, wanna do another one?
Daren:And without hearing anything else, all he said was, do you wanna do another one? And I said, yes. And I I didn't really know what I was setting up for at that point, and so the next bit of the conversation was, well, we're either gonna shoot in Texas or South Africa. Because, you know,
Garrett:they're right next to each other.
Daren:Might as well choose me. And, it was so funny, the the series of events. So I'll, you know, get through them quickly. Not to belabor at all, but I think it's fun to hear how movies come together. Right?
Daren:It's all relationships. It's all who you know. But a week later, or maybe the Monday after that, you were hopping on a call with the team in South Africa to see what are the logistics, should we come out and do a a a location scout, like, what what are the financials? Like, we you were kinda getting into that with them and thought it'd be great to have me on the call. So we hop on the call, and you introduced me as the line producer or the the international producer for the movie.
Daren:And I was like, oh, I guess I got the gig. Because April, I even my wife, April, didn't even know if I actually had the gig. It was just a conversation at that point. And then I think 2 weeks after that, we were on a plane flying 25 hours to Cape Town. And it was an amazing trip, and we ate some really good food.
Daren:And we we learned, what a recce was, a reconnaissance, a
Garrett:Location strategy. Location scout, kind of a tech scout.
Daren:Yeah. And it was just incredible. And you and I kind of fell in love with the location pretty quickly, but it was then that we had to we were waiting on Cam, the the guy who called you and had been working with you for a number of years. We're waiting on him to fly in and kind of sign off. Right?
Garrett:Yeah. And and that was part of the plan is we knew I mean, we knew what Texas was. We had a positive experience shooting there, and we had already we I had already done kind of a budget and a breakdown of the film. We knew what we wanted, and the question was, would we where would we be able to have the the greatest access to that, and what would serve the film best? I mean, and Darren, I reached out to you, certainly not on a on a whim.
Garrett:I had been as as you mentioned, we had known each other, we have known each other for years, And I've been, really pleased to kinda follow your posts and and progress and and, your updates about producing. And you had this mentality that seemed like, man, there's there's a a problem solver and a peacemaker and somebody that we would need in this type of environment. And so I was thrilled when you said yes, and, and again, you never know where your next project is going to come, especially as an independent filmmaker. It's not like studios are calling and saying, Hey, we'd love for you to take a look at these scripts, or no. No, at least in my experience.
Garrett:And so when I get a call out of the blue that says, hey. You wanna help me write a script? Yeah. You know, that's something I would pay attention to. And it and it led to me and Darren going to South Africa.
Garrett:Darren and I. Darren and me.
Daren:Yes. We get out there and, you know, a lot of the a lot of it was kind of getting to know you, getting to know the story, and really capturing and understanding, okay, how is this location gonna support the story better than, other options like the one in Texas? And the biggest reason that I remember was just the size and scope of things was so much bigger in Cape Town. They had this set that was built for the TV show of kings and prophets years before that had kinda been sitting dormant. I'm a couple of commercials had shot there and music videos over the years, but nothing else had come through.
Daren:And it was this big set that had, like, pretty close to 360 degree views uninterrupted with modern technology and civilization. And I remember walking through that location because it was gonna be the bulk of our shoot at this location, and we're going, okay. We've got our list of locations. We need this many houses, and we need a big courtyard, and we need, all these different, needs from the movie. And I remember walking through that and and just checking off every single one in this one location.
Daren:I was just blown away, And this overwhelming thought of, like, this this set wasn't just built for kings and prophets. It was also built for us and those people who built it didn't even know. But it really truly felt like God had a plan years before we ever stepped foot on that location, and it was the perfect spot. So I remember before I'd never met Cam, had barely even talked to Cam, and I was just waiting with anticipation for him to come and see this place and just, like, hoping and really praying that, like, he would see it and and buy in because he had the final say. Yeah.
Daren:So that's what an incredible place.
Garrett:Yeah. It it was a it was an ideal location. It it did feel like it had been built for our movie, which is, which is nice to be able to say. And then another selling point for us was the the crew that we were able to meet with. When looking for different places to film, you know, we knew we had Texas as an option, we were looking at I looked I I knew what movie this was, what type of genre it was, what budget it was, and so I did a lot of research in finding other films that had the similar look and a similar budget, and and some not.
Garrett:You know, I said, okay, well, this is a, you know, set in Nazareth type of movie, and where can we shoot that? And, you know, Malta has a place, Morocco has sets a lot of these, places. Because of COVID it was prohibitive to be able to go and even scout and look. But I did reach out to different producers of those movies, and I've I was surprised and I found as an independent producer, we're all in this together, and producers were certainly willing to take a call and and talk and, you know, or at least respond to an email, and so that I was I was pleased, that that is a great to find, that that's a great way to find locations and and the ability to continue to move it. So, the producer, that I reached out to, they had done a movie called Samson.
Garrett:This is, Bruce McDonald. He's a great director and a producer, and has since become a great friend. But he produced a movie called Samson and it had fighting and time in biblical times and I thought okay this is a similar look to this movie. And he, when I reached out to him, see that he was in South Africa and said, come down, we've got a set, we'll take care of you, and, and that's how we ended up going down there. And the entire team, Bruce's entire team at BoomTown, CJ and, Marsh.
Daren:Murray.
Garrett:Murray. It's been a few years since we've been down there, but, they they just welcomed us with open arms and, we felt like they rolled out the red carpet for us, and and helped.
Daren:Yeah. Truly. And what what I was really impressed with was that they were Christian filmmakers, and they they wore that on their sleeves. They were not, hesitant. They weren't shy.
Daren:We prayed at meals. We prayed together. It was really an eye opening experience for me to go, wow, this, you can do this. You could you could have the Christian part of your life, the faith part of your life be front and center even in, quote, unquote, Hollywood. You know, it's maybe a little removed.
Daren:It's the other side of the world from Hollywood, but still, you think about the big productions that go and shoot out there from Netflix and HBO and Starz and all these things, and these are truly Christian, faithful, believing individuals that are doing movies out there full time is just really eye opening. And I think it led a lot to how we kinda ran our set, how we, started every day. We can get into that, but, like, I was just really overcome, and it was a faith affirming and faith building experience for me just to be out there for the week. We were out there for the the rec y, so it got us really excited.
Garrett:I think that's I think you did a good job, Darren, of making sure that, you know, as we interviewed crew members and potential cast, like, we knew what this film this particular film is a faith based movie. It's about the, you know, an apprentice of Jesus, and so we, you know, as we even interviewed, that was it was certainly not a litmus test to be a believer, but we represented that, hey, it's likely that we, this will be a quiet set. We want the message of the movie to kinda resonate with the cast and crew, and I think that people were drawn to that. So put together an amazing crew. The shoot, was what?
Garrett:20 26 days. Yeah. 25 days schedule, that and then we added an extra day. So we were in South Africa for total of 8 weeks. Is that what it was?
Daren:Yeah. It was 8 weeks between the the recce and the shoot. And man, oh, man, I if I'll share this one story because I think it's cool and it plays into how much, you know, God's hand was in this movie. And I think I remember saying pretty much every day, like, making movies is a lot easier easier when god's involved, and that just played out every day with weather, with, locations, with people. And there was a situation where we needed to reshoot a scene, and we didn't have reshoots scheduled.
Daren:We didn't have extra days that we were planning on being there. I think we maybe had 2 or 3 days on the tail end of our travel plans that we were just just in case, if something happened or so we weren't trying to fly out the day after the shoot wrapped or anything. And we were looking at reshooting a big scene that had a 150 plus extras, and we're like, we actually need more. We needed to recast somebody. We needed to reshoot this scene bigger and better, and it required the art department to redress a location and and there was a lot of expense involved.
Daren:But the cool thing that happened was that there's an exchange rate between the dollar and the the rand, which is the currency in South Africa. And we budgeted the movie off of, like, a $14.14.50 to 1 rand or the other way around, 14.50 R1450 to 1 dollar, something like that. And by the time we were shooting, the exchange rate had gone up to where it was, like, 16 and a half and 17, which means our dollar could go further. And so as we were bringing money into the country throughout the shoot, we were actually stockpiling a bunch of money because of the exchange rate. We just had extra rand to spend.
Daren:And when I budgeted out that extra day and talked to all the department heads and put it all together, it was something like $68,000 that day was gonna cost. And we had stockpiled about 72,000 just from the exchange rate. And so we didn't need to go back and ask for more money to reshoot or to add a day. We had it built in. I think we asked for permission to spend the money, but it was already there.
Daren:Talk about, you know, God's hand in the work. Like, it was such a blessing to be able to do that, and the movie's better off for it. And my goodness, everybody showed up and really delivered to make that scene really punch and really have oh, that's a there's a pun for you or a play on words, but to have that scene, really deliver what the movie needed.
Garrett:Yeah. Yeah. It it was. And and independent film is not without its challenges regardless of the topic, and so I don't I wouldn't wanna say that, oh, because we're not making a faith based movie, we're asking for a whole bunch of question or problems, and vice versa. Oh, because we're making a movie about missionaries or Jesus, this is gonna be smooth sailing.
Garrett:It it isn't and it never will be. But but, yeah, it it it was neat to be able to recognize these little daily daily, you know, blessings that, that because we were on a set about, and the film was is, is the topic of Christ. So that was openly addressed and spoken and recognized and acknowledged.
Daren:Yeah. Yeah. The crew was incredible. The shoot was incredible. We got back, and I think we wrapped end of August 2022.
Daren:And you had set a date for a screening in January or February at a on a cruise. So talk us through. I wasn't as involved in the the post production of the Carpenter as I was in Faith of Angels, but talk us through that. How did we do that? How are we able to pull off a 3 month post production?
Garrett:Well, we knew yeah. We knew we were gonna be on a tight schedule. We knew that we had to play this film premiere, on a cruise. Well, we knew that the Krebs family wanted the first screening to be with their family in over Christmas break of
Daren:That's right.
Garrett:Yeah. Of, you know, December 2022. And we had shot and finished in by, like, September 1st or something like that, September 5th. And so it was a very, very tight turnaround. We were fortunate to be able to work with Timber Pictures, who was our editing, the editors, Andy and Aaron were fantastic.
Garrett:And, while we were shooting in South Africa, we would upload the dailies, they would download the dailies, and within a 24 hour period, they would have a pretty, good assembly, sometimes even with, like, sound effects and, you know, a pretty tight edit of the previous day's shoot. So that honestly, that enabled us to be able to confidently move on or or to be able to say, okay, we need to reshoot or we need to pick up and things like that. So that, you know, a week or two after I landed back from shooting, I was able to go sit with Andy and Aaron, watch an assembly and then we had about 3 or 4 weeks to do a nice tight director's cut, and get the picture locked. Rob Elliot did our music and anytime I work with Rob, I I do my best to send him the script as early as we can. His free shooting music even influences the movie and and and, he does a great job of reading the script, kind of anticipating and interpreting what we're trying to do, and he delivers it.
Garrett:This movie is unique because the Krebs family had very specific, requests for music and so it was fun to be able to translate their requests to Rob's, sensitivities and and style and find a bridge between those 2 and, so that by December we were able to show a fully mixed, you know, composed, edited, you know, locked cut, finished cut, essentially, that the Krebs family was able to watch. This movie is also unique in that in in the fact that and and the the Krebs family had some specific songs, specific heavy metal, you know, rock songs that they wanted in the movie. And so, it's been fun to kind of blend, again, what they want as far as Metallica and Def Leppard and and some really neat, selections with a musical score and try to try to make that fit altogether. So it's been it's been a fun challenge.
Daren:Yeah. We didn't really touch on one of the biggest unique things about this movie is that the two leads are brothers who haven't acted before. And so this started you kinda pitched it as like a family legacy project, and it turned into a big movie that was filming internationally and with a decent budget and and everything to support that. But how did how was that different, and how did you kind of manage that as the director going, okay. I've gotta maybe coach these guys and teach them how to act as we're filming.
Daren:Like, what what was that experience like for you?
Garrett:Yeah. Yeah. That that is a good question. And again, every every movie is going to have its opportunities and differences to to address and and the variables that you wanna try to balance, and at the end of the day, have a have a movie. And this one was, Cam, and Kenny were are the executive producers behind it.
Garrett:And from the get go, they were always they were optimistic about maybe putting into theaters, but the priority was to make a legacy movie for for their family. And with that, they wanted family participation. And so they were, Cam and his brother Colin, were they they at some point during the script writing and pitch process and sizzle, they said we're gonna be in this, they would like to be in it, as the 2 brothers. And, as a director, I mean, that's what an exciting opportunity to go, okay, how can we make sure that with these guys in the movie, how can we best support them and make sure that what they bring is showcased well. And Cam and Colin are I mean, they were incredible, like, they're college football players, and just, you know, big they've got this brotherly love and this brotherly banter that is so fun, So we made immediate changes and adaptations to the script to make sure that a, you know, a red headed college football player had a reason to be an apprentice to, Jesus in the middle of Nazareth.
Garrett:And it it was fun. It was a fun challenge to try to make sure that that that all worked, and and, and Cam and Colin did just a fantastic job of of training, you know, going through the acting training and some stunt work. And, really, you know, you could see their progress from day 1 on, like, rehearsal day to day 25 when we're wrapping the movie of going from have never been on a movie set before to, Kim, you're number 1 on the call sheet for a reason because you you belong here.
Daren:Yeah. Such a tall order for any actor, let alone, first time actor to carry a movie, be number 1 on the call sheet, and he worked every single day. I think he was in every scene of the movie, maybe not every scene, but he was definitely working every day. No breaks. We did do 5 day shoots instead of, like, 6 day shoots, that gave them a weekend, but still, the the the the Krebs, have a saying, and I hope I'm not revealing family secrets here, but, like, the Krebs are clutch.
Daren:And those 2 came in and they were clutch. Like, we had to rely on them, kinda didn't have a choice, and they delivered. They showed up every day. They were on time. They were pleasant to work with.
Daren:They made friends with the cast and crew. They were just a joy. And then we watched the movie and we were pleasantly surprised that, like, this movie really works. It doesn't feel like a little indie that was made with 2 brothers starring. It's like, no.
Daren:They carried the movie. And my gosh, it was such a joy to watch them and to see their performances come together on first the small screen as I'm watching it on my computer and watching edits and assemblies and stuff, but then to watch it at a festival, with an audience, there's always a little bit of nerves or, like, are they gonna like it? Are they gonna think it's good? How are they gonna react? Is that joke gonna play?
Daren:Is this is the emotional stuff gonna pay off? And it really did. We were able to screen it, in 20 20 3 at the Zions Indie Film Fest here in Orem, Utah with a full theater of people, and it worked. Like, the movie worked, Garrett. Well
Garrett:and and it didn't stop there. I mean, we screened it. We submitted to a few festivals, and they all responded. And so it's played, you know, a festival in Italy. I got a call from the Boston International Film Festival and went out and, showcased the movie there and I got a call from a festival at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC and went out and showcased the movie there.
Garrett:We've played it at several different places, and, I'm pleasantly surprised, you know, I'm as a filmmaker or as any any creator of content, you're very, very hopeful, that people respond well. And then when they do, that there's still this element of of surprise and gratitude and just relief, that it's that it's working and what you created is resonating with people and that was a group effort to be able to do that. And I think that's evidence of or supported by and driving, Kenny and Cam to be able to release this movie now into theaters, where what it was going to be a, you know, a family legacy movie, certainly still is, but that legacy now is going to be shared across the country on 600 screens here in about, 4 months.
Daren:Yeah. Very, very cool. I think we're hopefully, we're closer to 5 or 6 months, not 4. I don't wanna be 4 months out yet. We're in June.
Daren:Holy cow. It's June. July, August, September, October, November. 5 months. What's the 5?
Garrett:1st. Don't count November. November 1st.
Daren:November 1st.
Garrett:Yeah. So think about October 31st.
Daren:Oh, man. Oh, man. Well, yeah. I think that story of how the movie came together really does inform the decision to put this movie out independently to do it the way that we wanna do it and to really connect with an audience and have that direct relationship, which is why we're doing this podcast, which is why we're relying so heavily on doing screenings and getting emails of people and being able to connect with them in a more personal way than to hand the film over to a a distributor and say, please do a good job with this. Being able to maintain that really high touch and, run the play as it were is really exciting, and it really just fits with the entire story of the movie, The Carpenter.
Daren:So very cool. Yeah. We're 4 or 5 months out depending on how you wanna calculate. I don't
Garrett:know when you listen. Maybe if you're listening to this in September, then we're 2 months out.
Daren:Yeah. I guess you're right. It's 4 months because it's June 1st, July, August, September, October, November no. November 1st. 5 months.
Daren:I'm going with 5 months. I'm sticking to my story. It is it
Garrett:is it is fun to see the the I mean, that is it's a good point, Darren, that you make. The Krebs family mantra, you know, being clutch, but they've also they've done every step of this thing on their own. You know, where they said, hey. First, we want to sell the script to Hollywood. And then they're like, no.
Garrett:Actually, let's not. We like it. We like the script. We like the process. Let's do the next thing.
Garrett:Okay. We want to pitch the movie to Hollywood. No. We like this movie. We're gonna make it on our own.
Garrett:And then same thing now with distribution. Or hey. We can we can take it, we can serve it up to an independent distributor, or no. We're gonna do it ourselves. And so that's kind of been their mantra, and so far everything's worked.
Daren:Yeah. Oh, so exciting. Alright. Well, there you go. If you have questions about this episode, make sure to join the email so that you can ask us questions.
Daren:We'll answer them next episode. But we do have 2 questions today to kinda wrap things up. The first question that I got was where do you meet producers? So there's lots of filmmakers that listen to the show. They're out in the world.
Daren:They're on social media. And that's the question I get a lot, both out in the world and now related to this podcast. So my answer, like, to give you a real answer and not just say don't do that like I did last time, the answer is, like, go to where the filmmakers are. Go to where the producers are. They're attending film film festivals with their movies.
Daren:They're going to meetups. Some of them host meetups. Go to where they're spending time. If they have a website, if they have a blog, like, 10 Ted Hope has a blog that he updates multiple times a week. Like, you can go there and you can comment and you can interact with Ted Hope, who ran Amazon Studios for a number of years.
Daren:Like, he's accessible. You can get online and find Cassie Nelwiz on Twitter and email him like I did 5 or 10 years ago. And now I have a relationship with Cassie Nelos. It's like the Michael Jordan of indie film producers. So, like, go to where they're spending time, contribute value there.
Daren:Don't just ask for a handout. Don't just ask them to do something for you without providing value first. But go to where they're spending time, provide value, make a real human connection. Don't pitch them or query them on the 1st DM, like, spend some time getting to know them, contributing to where they're spending time, and do that. But the other answer is be resourceful, like be your own producer.
Daren:So don't sit and wait like I did for years years years years years for the resources you don't have. For years, I waited for money from executive producers, for distribution, for people, for whatever. And we didn't make anything for, like, 9 years. We made a lot of short films and documentaries, but we never made our features that we had written. And it's because we had that wrong mindset of, like, well, I lack the resources of connections and money and distribution, so I can't make a movie.
Daren:And then that mindset shifted to, well, I'm going to take responsibility for all of those things. And so you're able to then produce short films or produce movies at a smaller budget because you decide to be resourceful instead of waiting for someone to pick you or someone to say yes to you. And so I would say be resourceful, become the producer yourself. Read books, listen to podcasts, produce your own stuff, learn on the job. Like, that's how we all do it.
Daren:No one here in Utah is, like, mentoring the up and coming producers and teaching them on the job because there is no studio here. There's no development like that here. And so it's really on you to take that responsibility and just learn how it's done and and make it happen. So be resourceful rather than waiting for the resources to come to you, but also go to where they are and spend time getting to know them and building those relationships. Do you have anything to add to that?
Garrett:Yeah. No. I think you're spot on. I mean, it it sort of does segue nicely into the the another question or or a question that I often get, when people talk to me is is, how do I get on your your crew, or how do I how do I work with you? And, you know, there's well, I I I love that question, and I and I always tell people, please, we we need we need storytellers, we need filmmakers, we need people who are passionate about their craft and their art to be able to, pursue this.
Garrett:Typically as a director, and then I and then the bad news is, or I've still as a director, I don't do a lot of hiring entry level crew positions. I can certainly recommend different department heads that they would want to, but, work with. But I think that the the answer, I guess, for those that are interested in getting on crews or being involved in film like Darren says, go to the places where where that is happening, either film festivals or or film commissions, different different agencies, or production studios, and interact with the people that are hiring and that will be your production managers or your department heads. If you have a skill, then focus that on an department. You know, if you're a craftsman or or a decorator or something, find an art, art department head, a production designer, and reach out to them to to to be hired by them on their crew or be a production assistant.
Garrett:And that if you don't have a a specific skill or a an area of interest, maybe a production assistant is a great place to start where you can kind of get an idea of what goes on in each different department and find what, what interests you. But typically a director is not doing the the direct hiring. There are lots of opportunities for for work on Cruise.
Daren:Yeah. One one thought there is you have tools at your disposal you can use to find who these people are. So there's, like, imdb.com. You can go and look at the movies that have been produced and released locally, figure out who is the first AD on that project because they're the ones hiring their production assistants. Who was the production designer?
Daren:And you can contact them and get to know them and build a relationship with them so that they know that you're around. They may have a little one day commercial shoot that they need to try someone out on, or they may have an opportunity for you to come intern for a day or 2 and show that you you know, an opportunity to show that you know what you're doing and that you're a hard worker. So take the initiative to not wait for people to pick you, but to go out and start those relationships. And IMDB is a great tool, to see who's already done the stuff you wanna be doing on the movies that you'd like to work on, and then you can get in front of them and hopefully work on a future movie that they're working on.
Garrett:Awesome.
Daren:Very cool. Alright, Garrett. Well, next week, I think we're gonna have a guest. So that's exciting.
Garrett:Wonderful.
Daren:And do you know, we're doing this in real time recording the podcast, but, like, do you wanna do it as you know who the guest is and you're prepared to ask questions and all that stuff? Or do you wanna do smart list style where we, like, bring them on, but there's no name and their video's off, and we go, and our guest is so and so.
Garrett:A Whatever whatever you think they, is gonna be best.
Daren:It's funny.
Garrett:A fun format to to hear those guys be surprised and
Daren:It is fun format. But it's always ruined by the fact that the per the guest is in the title of the episode. So
Garrett:Yeah. For the audience.
Daren:It never works for me. It only works for them on the show. Yeah.
Garrett:That's fine.
Daren:That's fine. All righty. Well, thank you all for listening. Another great episode. Thanks for sharing that story, Garrett.
Daren:It's very cool how this movie came together and, you know, the journey continues. We're still in it for a couple more months and then forever after that because you don't just release your movie in theaters and then you call it a day. You're releasing and talking about that movie forever and ever and telling people where to go watch it and sharing it with people, and so I'm excited to start the distribution of this movie in November.
Garrett:This there in 4 or
Daren:5 months from now.
Garrett:This morning, literally this morning, at about 8 o'clock this morning, I was filling out a distribution agreement for a movie I made in 2009 and, like, these library titles. So these things never stop.
Daren:That's awesome.
Garrett:Okay.
Daren:Alright, man.
Garrett:See you next week. Good to
Daren:see you. Thanks again. We'll see you next time. Thank you for listening to this episode of Truly Independent. To join us on the journey, be notified of new episodes and screenings, and ask us questions about today's episode, head over to 3coinpro.com/podcast, and put in your name and an email address.
Daren:If you're a fan of the show, please leave us a review on your favorite podcast app, and be sure to share this episode with a friend. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week. Our intro and outro music is Election Time by Kjartan Evel.